The 7 Best Multi-Tools of 2026

The Signal is the most expensive tool in this set, and you aren't paying for more tools: 19 of them, one more than the Wave Plus. You're paying for four additions — a ferrocerium fire starter that clips into the handle, a hammer face at the end of the frame, a diamond sharpener, and a whistle built into the spine.

In a hunting pack those additions earn their keep in a way another screwdriver bit never will. A ferro rod sparks wet and cold, which is exactly when a lighter quits. The hammer face drives tent stakes and knocks a pin loose without a rock. The sharpener means a dulled blade isn't a walk back to camp. That's a real toolset for September in the woods, and it arrives at 8 ounces and 4.5 inches closed — sheath weight, not pocket weight.

So this is the pick for the hunter, the backpacker, or anyone whose truck lives at a lease from opening day through the rut. If you're mostly tightening cabinet hinges and opening feed bags, the Wave Plus does more of that work for less money and the Signal's extras will sit unused. That's the whole decision: pay for field skills, or don't.

No sheath comes with the Suspension NXT — just a pocket clip and a lanyard point. We didn't miss it. At 6.4 ounces and 4.25 inches closed it sits in a jeans pocket the way a heavy folding knife does, which is the whole reason it goes to the barn instead of staying on the workbench.

For the money, this is the value pick of the set, and the spring is what sells it. The needle-nose jaws open themselves, so you can work a nut, a hook, or a piece of wire with one hand instead of prying the handles apart with your thumb. Fifteen tools cover the usual run — two cross drivers, three flatheads, an awl, a nail file, scissors, a can opener, a partially serrated blade.

What you give up is refinement. The knife is a two-step open because nothing on the outside of the handle comes out without unfolding the pliers first, so the Wave Plus stays the faster tool in a hurry. The saw is short enough that it's for a branch, not a limb. Neither gap has ever made us put this one back.

Ten functions, 2.3 inches closed, 1.1 ounces, and a key ring. The Rambler goes on the keys with the truck key and disappears, which is the thing no full-size multi-tool here can say. There is no morning decision about whether to bring it.

We reach for it constantly for the small jobs that used to mean a walk to the toolbox: the scissors, the magnetic Phillips driver, the nail file with its flathead tip, the tweezers, the toothpick. The scissors are the standout — they go through paracord and zip ties cleanly, which is more than most keychain scissors manage, and the blade is sharp and holds its edge.

The trade is obvious the second you open it. The blade is short, so it's a package-and-paracord knife, not a field-dressing knife, and the handle is small enough that real leverage isn't on the menu. It also costs about what a full-size budget multi-tool costs. If it lives on your keys, both facts are easy to live with.

One flick of the wrist and the pliers are out, and that single trick is why the Multi-Plier 600 stays on our list after decades of near-identical design. The one-hand opening is a patented sliding mechanism that swings the jaws free without unfolding anything — precisely what you want with a fish on the line or wire tangled in a fence.

The other 13 tools are Gerber's older, blunter school: needle-nose pliers, a serrated knife, a wire crimper, screwdrivers, a can opener, a ruler. Nothing exotic and nothing gimmicky. Eight ounces and 4.88 inches closed means it rides a belt sheath comfortably, and every tool locks through the Saf.T.Plus system so nothing folds on your fingers mid-cut.

The weak spot is the cutter inserts, which can chip if you lean on them with hard wire, and the small clip that holds the pliers shut can pop loose in a pocket. Work the action in before you trust it one-handed, and treat the cutters as a light-duty convenience rather than a pair of dikes. For hook removal and quick grabs, nothing else here is close.

Sixteen ounces. Start there, because the Mossy Oak weighs twice what the Wave Plus does and you will know it's on your belt by mid-afternoon. This is not a pocket tool, and it isn't trying to be.

What the weight buys is the biggest toolset in this roundup: 21 functions, a magnetic hex bit sleeve, a bit set, and a nylon pouch with an elastic pocket on the front for the extra bits. Everything runs off a self-locking spine, so each tool clicks open and stays put until you press the release. That last part matters more than it sounds — a locking driver is the difference between a stubborn screw and a bloody knuckle.

The corners show where you'd expect them to. The frame is bulky next to a Leatherman, and the tools come out stiff enough that you'll want to work each one open and shut a few dozen times before you trust it one-handed with gloves on.

Where it earns its place is the truck box, the saddlebag, the lease cabin, or the tractor toolbox — a tool you buy once and leave where the work is. For the money, stashing two of them is a reasonable plan, and the bit set means you're less likely to walk back for a screwdriver.

The listing photos make it look like a hatchet. In hand it's a 6.2-inch folding tool with a short axe head, and the first thing we noticed is how small the whole thing sits against a gloved hand.

Sixteen functions run off that frame: hatchet, hammer face with a nail claw, pipe-grip pliers, wire cutters, needle-nose pliers, a knife, a saw, a file, screwdrivers, a bottle opener, a whistle, and a ferro rod, all in a nylon pouch with a sleeve for the axe.

As a campsite and woodlot tool it earns its spot — the axe bites small limbs, the hammer drives stakes, and the fire starter saves you hunting for a lighter in the rain. As a pocket multi-tool it doesn't work at all. This is a pack or glovebox item, and the pliers aren't in the same league as the Leathermans here.

One check before you pack it: the edge cover on the axe head is the weak link, and a sharp head that works its way through a soft cover is a problem inside a loaded pack. Slide it into the pouch sleeve and treat the cover as a second layer rather than the only one.